Twentyfour12 2012 Video

Twentyfour12 2012

Severe weather warnings, torrential rain, road closures, and floods greeted riders on Friday evening as they made their way to Twentyfour12 in Plymouth this past weekend. A pre ride mid afternoon Friday presented a damp slippery track which included the very best of Newnham Park’s mountain bike trails. The weather that arrived that night would transform parts of the course from slippery but manageable to dangerous and unrideable. The whole event was put in danger by the rising water levels in the river which runs alongside the camp sight.

After a peaceful night’s stay in a nearby hotel team Mountain Trax arrived at the campsite Saturday ready for action. I’d be teamed up with Calum, Scott and Martin to race the 12 hour in a team of 4. Also racing from Mountain Trax was Kathy who was riding the 12 hour solo. Team Director John would be supporting us during the race. The decision was made that I would start and would therefore have the opportunity of going for first lap glory. There were some strong riders on the start line, including former teammates from TORQ. The wonderful British summer weather had improved after Friday’s heavy downpours but the course remained pretty waterlogged.

The race begun around a short start loop which returned us to the arena before we headed out on a full lap of the track. A quad bike led us around the start loop, as we exited the arena I leapt into the lead determined to force the pace and create a time gap to our rivals early on. After the 5 minute start loop I’d already created a 30 second lead and didn’t back off the power until I entered the trails. I knew after all the rain we’d had that the singletrack would be slippery and it would be easy to make a mistake leading to a crash. Being cautious on the trails and then pushing hard on the climbs or fireroad would be the strategy for the race. After slipping my way down the last descent into the arena I handed over to Calum with a lead of a few minutes. The organisers had done a good job of re-routing parts of the track following the rain we had on Friday night, leaving a track which was good fun and completely rideable.

On our third lap we lost the lead as Martin suffered a puncture on the rocky trail called Cottage Return, with the tyre not sealing he was forced to fit a tube. This cost us 15 minutes and the opportunity to chase TORQ and Southfork Racing as they rode past us fixing our mechanical. We weren’t going to give up easily though and over the next few hours we chased hard hoping our luck would change.

As the laps passed by the course conditions worsened, after my second lap the course was shortened as sections did become unrideable. Again later on in the evening the organisers did a good job of changing parts of the course to keep the race moving and riders happy.

Each rider from the team was riding consistent lap times keeping us in third position. Between laps there was plenty of laughter and fun at the big orange Mountain Trax eazy-up tent. We had a good position in the area where we could view both the last descent and also a jump through the campsite which caused many comedy moments. After the half way point the mud began to thicken which meant it stuck to bikes weighing them down, luckily we had John who was doing a fantastic job cleaning the bikes after every lap.

For the night time laps the team had a range of fantastic lights at its disposal from my sponsor Exposure Lights, the huge power of the Maxx D and Diablo lights illuminated the greasy rocks and roots. During my night laps I’d often pass riders thinking they were riding without light - such was the power of my Exposure LED’s!

Going into the latter stages of the race it became apparent that we would be tight on time for Scott to start his fourth lap before the 12 hours elapsed. Rules differ at different races but at Twentyfour12 riders can complete any lap they have begun before the 12 hour mark. Martin knew he had an hour to complete his last lap so that Scott could start his lap. Like a couple of cheeky school kids Calum and myself armed with horns and bells wandered over to the finish line to wait for Martin and to cheer on Scott. The minutes ticked by, then the seconds ticked by, it looked like Martin wouldn’t make it but then with 3 seconds to spare he sprinted over the line to pass the baton to Scott. In reality Scott didn’t have to go out on his fourth lap as the team behind us couldn’t have overtaken us but it was good fun and Scott wanted to do his second night lap.

After 16 completed laps the team finished a fine third place and Kathy finished a brilliant second place in the solo category. The podium presentations completed a fun packed weekend of racing. The organisers put on a fantastic event as always and successfully beat the weather which tried its best to ruin the race. Get yourself to Twentyfour12 next year, you won’t be disappointed, it might even be sunny!

Win at Southern XC Series Final

This past weekend the 2012 Southern XC Series came to a close with the fifth and final round at Frith Hill in Surrey. Having ridden three of the previous four rounds I stood a good chance of securing second place in the series but was yet to win a round this year, I was determined to make amends at this final round.

On Saturday I joined Calum and Scott from team Mountain Trax for a practise of the race track. The lap was a real power course and could be ridden entirely in the biggest chainring, just how I like it! There wasn’t anything too technical but the singletrack was great fun and there were plenty of tight twists which could easily catch riders out as they tired during their final race laps.

A little rain around midday Sunday created only a little mud on the first singletrack descent, the rest of the track remainder loamy and dusty. A combination of Kenda Karma front tyre and Small Block Eight rear was perfect for the course conditions.

My start sprint was good and put me just behind Ade Lansley into the first descent, entering the first climb we both sprinted for the lead which opened a gap to the riders behind. Ade was keen to stay ahead and blocked my progress. He couldn’t stop me though and as the trail opened back up on the second part of the climb I sprinted past into the next bit of singletrack and didn’t look back!

It was unexpected having trained so hard during the days leading into the race but my legs felt great and the gap to Ade began to open. I added time on each climb or open fireroad and took it steady on the singletrack making sure I hit my lines, saving energy, and looking after the bike.

A few days before the race Mountain Trax had very kindly fitted the new Sram X0 ten speed grip shifters to my bike. I was super keen to try these new shifters and they’re a great addition to the Sram XX groupset I have. The older triggers were good but these are even smoother and quicker to change through the gears, even letting you change multiple gears in one go. Despite only having one day riding with the new grip shifters before the race it was easy to adjust and I’m sure they helped me win the race.

By the end of the first lap I had a fifteen second lead, it wasn’t much and a small mistake would have put Ade straight back onto my wheel but I kept up the pace. My next three laps times were within three seconds gradually getting quicker each time around. This was enough to crack the opposition and open up a decent lead on the fourth lap. I was then out of sight but still felt good and was enjoying racing my bike around the fun trails the venue offers.

After just over one and a half hours I crossed the line with my arms aloft taking the win with a gap of nearly three minutes on second place Ade Lansley and a further minute to Ben Sumner in third! The points acquired from the win were enough for me to take second place in the series.

Last week was a big training week and the strength of my legs during the race was a little unexpected but a pleasant surprise with just three weeks to go until National XC Championships. With another two big weeks of training hopefully I can make further progress and collect a decent result at Champs.

This weekend I join team Mountain Trax for the team event TwentyFour12 at Newnham Park in Plymouth.

European Marathon Championships

Today Europe’s very best marathon racers gathered in Czech Republic for the 2012 European Marathon Championships. I arrived by plane flying into Prague on Tuesday, this gave me the opportunity to practise the course and recover from the stresses of travelling. An early flight and a quick exchange of car keys at the car hire meant I was driving north towards our accommodation at a decent enough time to have the chance to ride the first 35 miles of the track Tuesday afternoon.

You can see my pre race video here

The course started at Jablonne v Podjestedi town centre, passed over the German border, passed back into Czech Republic further West, before finishing up on a golf course in Hermanice v Podjestedi. There was a real mix of trails including fast open fireroad, grassy farm tracks, super rocky jeep track descents, loose steep rocky uphill climbs, and rooty singletrack. It was great fun to ride and practising the track for a few days before the event was a huge benefit on race day.

You can see my preview of the Euro Champs race course here


Race day dawned following some huge thunderstorms that rolled through the mountains surrounding us the previous night. The trails remained largely dry though thanks to the high temperatures in the previous few days. A fourth row call up gave me the opportunity for a decent start slotting onto the back of the lead group as we entered the first offroad section. The 10 kilometres were very fast, after the lead group split I chased back across to the leaders only for the group to split again on the next climb. Sitting in the second group there was a good tempo and we were quickly progressing through the kilometres.

The real hills started at 45 kilometres after we passed through Oybin in Germany. By this point though the race had split apart and riders were well spaced out. There were limited position changes after this point, only riders who’d started too fast fell back through the field changing the race order.

After Oybin two of the riders from the Team Bulls professional mtb team caught me, they sat on my wheel for a while until I realised there were two of them. I then let them do some work and we rode together until about 15 kilometres to go where I slipped on one of the final steep uphill rocky sections which was damp and slippery after the previous nights rain. I chased but couldn’t get back, these two went on to finish just a few minutes in front of me, if I’d stayed with them a top 25 finish would have been in sight.

Although I wasn’t strong enough to catch those Team Bulls riders I did catch a couple of others who were now struggling. I still felt really strong at the end setting a strong pace all the way to the finish line to take 31st place.

31st best marathon racer in Europe in my first year of racing marathons, not too bad! I think I’m still learning the best pacing strategy for these marathon events and with more race experience I’ll improve and my race results will improve. I hoping that with a decent result at European Marathon Champs I’ll be selected by British Cycling to race World Marathon Champs, we’ll find out at the end of July.

You can see my post race video thoughts here

Euro Marathon Champs Preview Video

Euro Marathon Champs Day 2 Video

Southern XC Round 4 Crow Hill

Having 5 races on back to back weekends is a tough ask both physically and mentally. How do you plan your training around this kind of schedule, how do you maintain your form, can you recover quickly enough, and can you have the mental strength to push your body to its extreme each weekend. In previous years I’ve struggled with this kind of race scheduling but when the season is as compressed as it is this year it’s a problem that’s hard to avoid. I cracked mentally the week after National Marathon Champs, being the 4^th best marathon racer in the country is a great achievement but I’d gone to Scotland to win a medal, driving home without one hurt. I couldn’t get my head back before last weekends National XC race which meant a none finish, my head just wasn’t in it from the start. The only way to resolve the issue was to have some fun on my bike and enjoying riding again forgetting the tough training regime of intervals and zones elite riders religiously follow.

Last week I enjoying riding some awesome dusty dry trails and logging in some good miles, just what the doctor ordered. On Saturday after a fun 4 hours mountain biking I was repacking the race bag for another race, the Southern XC Series round 4. It had been about 3 years since I last raced at Crow Hill but I had fond memories of the circuit, it’s a tough one with plenty of short sharp climbs, loamy loose corners and bone shaking roots.

Off the start I jumped into second place following Ade Lansley into the first singletrack, Mike Cotty took over second place for a couple of minutes but I was keen to keep the rear wheel of Ade in sight. A lapped rider in a different category then came between us on a tight bit of singletrack with Ade managing to jump in front of him at the last opportunity. By the time we exited the trail Ade has a gap which I failed to shut down quick enough.

The gap opened slowly over the remainder of the race with me happy enough to take things steady and not risk loosing second. Ben Sumner caught me at the end of lap 2 and took over the pace making. At the start of lap 4 I attacked on the early climbs where I felt stronger than my rival, the gap developed to over a minute by the end of the 5 lap race. Ade took the win, I was second, and Ben Sumner took the final step on the podium.

Thanks to John from Vermont Images for doing my bottles and taking photos

http://www.vermont-images.co.uk/

My legs weren’t particularly fresh having trained hard during the days leading into the race, it would have been good to have challenged Ade for the win but I was happy to be back on the podium and secure some decent series points. That’s 2 second places in the last 2 Southern XC events; I’ll be hoping to take the win at the series final in a few weeks time.

On Tuesday 12^th of June I fly to the Czech Republic for my next race, the European Marathon Championships!